Abstract

Polysaccharide material was found in the proteolysis glycopolypeptide fraction from normal human gastric mucus. The polysaccharide was identified by carbohydrate and amino acid analyses, by elemental analysis and from its behaviour on density-gradient ultracentrifugation. The polysaccharide is polydisperse with a weight-average molecular mass of 300 000 Da. Over 85% of the polysaccharide consists of galactose, and this represents 26% of all the galactose present in the fractions after beta-elimination with reduction of the glycopolypeptide material.